The Sandcastle
by Saphura
Summary: Castiel helps build a sandcastle, and learns an unintended lesson.


Hey. So this is my first _Supernatural_ fic. It's just something small I came up with, I mean what's more adorable than the idea of Castiel making a sandcastle? This takes place somewhere in the final episodes of Season 4, you decide where, I just wrote it because it was a nice idea. I don't own _Supernatural_ in any way, just as a heads up :P any mistakes are mine, as this is not Beta-ed.

Love it, hate it, either way please remember to review when you're done.

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"Hey mister, your shoes are getting wet."

Castiel looked down. Sure enough water covered his shoes. He watched as it receded, only to be pushed back up by the next wave.

"They'll get ruined," the little girl said.

"I suppose," Castiel sighed.

"Mister, aren't you hot in that coat?" she asked.

Castiel looked up. The summer sun shone down like a brilliant diamond in the sky. He felt its heat on his face.

"Not really," Castiel replied.

"Okay," the girl said. "Hey, could you carry this bucket for me?" She tried to lift a bucket of seawater. "It's for my castle."

Castiel bent down and lifted the bucket. The girl ran off, and he followed. She stood next to a hole and a mound of sand.

"It's not much now," she explained. "But it'll be the best castle on the entire beach!"

"The greatest things do not start out as much," Castiel said as he placed the bucket down.

"Lucy?"

Castiel turned to the woman walking over to him and the girl. "Lucy, sweetie, who is this?" she asked.

"He's helping me with my castle!" Lucy replied happily.

"I assisted her in carrying the water bucket," Castiel explained. "Is this your child?"

"Yes," the woman said slowly. Her eyes flicked over Castiel, unsure as to what to make of the man in the suit and trench coat. "And you are…?"

"A visitor," Castiel said. He looked at the girl. "Your name is Lucy?"

"Yep!" Lucy said.

"It is a beautiful name," Castiel said. "Lucy means light."

"Yes, well," the mother cut in. "Lucy, I think it's time for lunch."

"But mom…!"

"Now, Lucy."

"It is all right," Castiel said. "Enjoy your meal."

He turned and started to walk away. "Thank you mister!" Lucy yelled after him.

Castiel found a nice spot to sit by some rocks. He spread out his trench coat and sat on it. The wind rustled his hair while two seagulls rode the currents above him. A few beachgoers gave the Angel odd looks, but most ignored him. Castiel watched the humans from under hooded eyes.

"Hey mister, could you help me get more water?"

Castiel opened his eyes. Lucy was standing there holding out her bucket. "Mama said I could ask you."

He looked over at the girl's mother. The woman was watching him like a hawk. She was protective of the child, and wary of the curious stranger her daughter had taken a liking to. Castiel nodded at her, and took Lucy's bucket. He followed her to the water and filled the bucket before following her back to the castle. Thus began the odd spectacle of a grown man in a suit carrying buckets of water to a little girl building a castle.

Castiel helped Lucy deepen the moat around the castle and build up the walls. She showed him how to make spires by dribbling watery sand through his fingers. Castiel liked making spires. They made a courtyard ringed with small stones and bits of shell, and lawns made of seaweed. Two seagull feathers acted as flags on the gate posts that guarded a drawbridge of driftwood. On one of his trips to fetch water he found a scallop shell, which he brought back with him.

"It's perfect!" Lucy cried, and placed it on the tallest tower. "My castle is perfect now!"

Castiel wouldn't call it perfect. The building was lopsided and the walls were uneven, but clearly that didn't matter to the little girl. And in a way, it didn't matter to him. He was a little proud of the lopsided sandcastle he and the girl Lucy had made. She ran over and got her mother, practically dragging the woman to come and see the finished product.

"It's beautiful, Lucy," the mother said.

As Lucy happily began to play with her finished castle, the mother spoke to Castiel. "Thank you for putting up with her," she said. "I simply don't understand why she insisted to ask you to help her, and heaven knows why I let you, but I'm glad. She's normally very shy; I've never seen her like this."

"She shines with her own light," Castiel said. "You have a very special child."

The mother blushed. "Thank you."

"Thank you for helping me mister!" Lucy said.

"You are welcome," Castiel replied. "It was a pleasure to build a sandcastle with you."

Castiel took his leave of Lucy and her mother, and returned to his place on the beach. His clothes were full of sand and were damp, but Castiel paid no attention to the discomfort. Time passed, and the tide came in. It began to lap at the castle's moat, and then overflowed its banks. Lucy rushed down to defend her castle from the sea, building up the walls as they began to fall down. Castiel watched the girl's futile battle against the sea. The girl's mother had to lead the tearful girl away from the ruined sandcastle.

"You can build another one," the mother said.

"But not like _that _one," Lucy cried.

He remained on the beach after the family left for home, watching as the mound of sand that had once been Lucy's castle grew smaller and smaller, until it was fully underwater and destroyed. In his mind Castiel mulled over the mother's words.

"Are you enjoying the seaside, Castiel?"

Castiel looked up at Zachariah. "I helped a little girl build a sandcastle, and I have just finished watching the sea destroy it."

"Such charming things, sandcastles," Zachariah said. "They're like humans, in a way."

"Oh?"

"Created from the earth, and only lasting a finite time before nature reclaims the elements that make them up. It is always the fate of a sandcastle to be reclaimed by the sea."

"The little girl fought against the sea," Castiel said. He hugged is knees and rest his head on them. "She tried to save her castle."

"You cannot fight fate, Castiel," Zachariah said coolly. "As it is written, so it must be. As it is built, so must it end. Do you understand?" he added.

"This world is a sandcastle," Castiel said quietly. "And fate, the Apocalypse, is the sea. Michael and Lucifer must fight so that Paradise may come to earth. The sandcastle must be destroyed so a new one can be built tomorrow."

Zachariah nodded. "A crude example, but yes. Remember this lesson well, Castiel. No matter what the Winchester boys say or do, the Apocalypse _must_ proceed. You'll do well to remember that."

When Castiel looked up, Zachariah was gone. The sun was setting, and he was the only one on the beach. He stood up and walked to the water's edge, letting the ocean roll over his shoes.

The sun set below the horizon at last. Castiel thought of Lucy and her castle. He was standing where it had been. His toe nudged something hard, and he looked down. It was the shell she had placed on top of the castle. Castiel pocketed the shell and walked up the beach.

"The world is _not _a sandcastle."


End file.
